In 1986, the Suburban Library System (SLS) adopted minimum reference
standards for their eighty public libraries. Four years later, similar
standards are in place for over 100 academic, school and special SLS
members. In order to ensure that the standards are effective, a sanction
of withdrawal of access to System Reference Service is invoked for those
libraries where policy, staff training, or resources fall short of the required
minimum. The development and implementation of the standards has
been a cooperative effort of almost 200 libraries. The ramifications call
for training workshops, core lists of resources, policy models, and
evaluation instruments which can be used in the smallest member library.
A basic evaluation manual for public libraries has been produced and
is being tested as an effective method of introducing more sophisticated
methods to libraries where evaluation has never been done before.

Issue Date:

1991

Publisher:

Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Citation Info:

In B. Allen (ed) Evaluation of Public Services and Public Services Personnel (Papers presented at the Allerton Park Institute held October 28-30, 1990): 103-123.